Panasonic Begins EV Battery Production in China

Panasonic Corp. has begun mass production of prismatic-type lithium-ion batteries for electrified vehicles at its new factory in Dalian, China.

The 861,000 sq-ft plant, which officially opened last April, is owned by Panasonic Automotive Energy Dalian Co. Ltd. The joint venture was launched two years ago with Dalian Levear Electric Co.

The facility, whose capacity hasn’t been disclosed, is Panasonic’s first battery cell production site in China. The plant supplies automotive customers in North America as well as China. Panasonic also may make conventional automotive starter batteries there, according to The Nikkei.​​